Eating Green Together: A qualitative study to explore children's motivations and role in household decision making for environmentally sustainable diets.

A transition towards more environmentally sustainable dietary patterns is crucial to mitigate the impact of current dietary habits on global climate change. Children represent a key target group in this transition, as they are in the process of developing their dietary habits, and they are future consumers who will bear the long-term consequences of today's dietary choices. Therefore, this study aims to explore the motivations of children aged 8 to 12 for environmentally sustainable dietary patterns, as well as how they communicate about and attempt to influence their parent's sustainable dietary behaviours. To do so, in-depth individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 children and one of their parents. Results show that, while taste preferences remain an important driver for children's (sustainable) food choices, also animal welfare, the environment, and significant others' preferences are important. Furthermore, children tend to ask parents questions, inform them about sustainable foods, and sometimes request specific (alternative) foods. However, for children to be able to influence the household's food decisions, parental support was a crucial factor. To encourage long-term sustainable dietary patterns, interventions should use these insights and address children's motivations while simultaneously addressing parental concerns.